Let me share with you what I believe God has in store for this body of believers.  I believe that God wants this church to grow bigger, better and broader.  Let me flesh this idea out in real terms.  First, he wants us to grow bigger, and yes by growing bigger I mean increasing in number. With our present location we can have an auditorium that seats 400 in a service.  We cannot have much more than that simply because of the parking space that is required.  So we have a lot of growing to do.  If you do not want to see this church grow bigger then perhaps you need to find another location in which to worship.  Because it is God’s will that His church grow bigger. 

     Not only does God want this church to grow bigger, but He wants it to grow better.  By better I mean that we become more spiritually mature in our attitude and in our actions.  It means we have to grow up as Christians.  We can no longer be content with the status quo, but we have to push ourselves to be all that we can be in Christ.  This will mean a deeper commitment to God and a deeper commitment to His church.  I have to be more intentional in teaching you and equipping you.  But the pastor cannot do it alone.  The Core team has to step up and provide Godly leadership.  Bible study teachers have to step up to the plate as well and provide instruction and guidance in God’s Word.  Each one of us has to take serious the call of God upon our lives and grow in our relationship with Him. 

     Finally, God wants this church to grow broader.  By broader I mean that God wants to expand our sphere of influence.  I believe God is positioning us to be a regional church.  What do I mean by that?  Just look at the makeup of this church.  This body of believers is comprised of individuals from Oswego, Yorkville, Plano, Sandwich, Montgomery, Newark, Aurora, and even Sugar Grove.  We already reach further than just this geographical location.  God wants to see this church begin to make a difference in the communities where he has placed us.  We will do this by serving others in Christ love.  But we will also do this by planting other churches.  The plan is that as we grow to 400 in attendance, that we will then ask 100 people to go and plant a church in a neighboring community.  This will accomplish two things: first it will put a self-sustaining church closer to the people and second, it will allow room for this body to grow as well.  And then once we reach 400 we will then again ask another 100 to go out and plant another church in another city.  By so doing we will be able to expand the sphere of influence of this body of believers, but more importantly the message of God’s love will spread faster.

      How will we determine if we are accomplishing the vision?  Instead of analyzing everything vertically, such as how many people are in attendance, we need to look at things horizontally.  In other words, how are we moving people through the process?  How do we move people from Worship to Bible Study and then to Ministry / Missions?  We will know we are accomplishing our vision when each category grows.

     I believe this vision is what God has for this body of believers.  Is it totally fleshed out?  No!  But I am excited about the vision God has for this body of believers.  I pray that you are excited and can embrace this concept.  I am convinced that when we are living under the influence of the Holy Spirit we will have a vision of great things.  God has Great Expectations for His church.